


I just do

by hellskitchensmurdock



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: AU, Framework AU, Hopeful Ending, Season 4 AU, The Framework Universe (Marvel)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-20
Updated: 2018-05-20
Packaged: 2019-05-09 07:17:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,406
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14711573
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hellskitchensmurdock/pseuds/hellskitchensmurdock
Summary: Leopold may have been looking for trouble but he only wanted a chat, not to be captured. He supposed things don't always go as planned and now...





	I just do

He knew he wasn’t getting out of this cell alive, so he stopped caring about keeping a mask up around the Resistance. First it was his posture, he wasn’t tired of keeping it straight. Then, it was accepting offers of food and drinks, his father and Ophelia would never care for him after this failure, but if he somehow got out he would have to finish Project Looking Glass. But getting out was very unlikely.   
  
After, he started to be more laid back, more like the person he was before Hydra took over and he had to step up, in a big way. He was constantly sarcastic towards his captors and showed more emotion. Well, showed the emotions he was willing to let out of his metaphorical vault of emotions.   
  
He never let them know that deep down there was shame and guilt for reasons that remained unknown, even to himself. He never let them know that the two girls who would come down and visit made him feel as though he was finally home, despite barely knowing them.    
  
He never let them know that the fight he put up when he came was fake, that he had been willingly looking for trouble and was curious about Jemma Simmons and Skye, who he now knew as inhuman Daisy Johnson.   
  
He never let them know that he hated himself for doing what was right.   
  
Leopold sat on the ground in the cell they had shoved him in, facing away from the door. He ignored that sound of that same door opening and continued singing an old song his mum used to sing while she would clean the house.    
  
He remembered she would be cleaning and singing. Meanwhile he sat on the couch playing around with the old radio he had pulled apart for the hundredth time while singing along in a soft voice, self-conscious of it. Of course, his dad would be out at work. They wouldn’t be this laid back in front of him.   
  
If dad could hear me now...   
  
He sung louder now, like he did back at the Academy with Ophelia. Late at night, when his head would hurt from last minute studying, he would take her hand and begin to dance with her while he sung whatever song came to mind. When he finished he didn’t turn around. He knew whoever had came into the cell hadn’t left and waiting for them to speak.   
  
“Somebody to Love, By Queen.” Leopold turned around to see Jemma Simmons, or just Simmons now. She had a soft smile on her lips and sadness in her eyes. She looked cleaner than last time he saw her.   
  
“Your Fitz ever sing it?” Leopold knew about the other world. How there was a version of him there who was different, who loved the small English woman in front of him. A world where he doesn’t love Ophelia, or work for Hydra.   
  
“All the time.” Simmons sat down in front of him, mimicking his own position; crossed legs, perfect posture. She continued after a moment of silence, “He said his mum used to sing it while cleaning the house. Is that the same for you?”   
  
Leopold nodded. “Never around my father, though. Then she left.” He swallowed and looked down. Confusion bubbled up; why did he trust her so much? “I used to sing when I was younger, but later I...” He shrugged.   
  
“Same with my Fitz. Actually, it’s been years since I heard him sing... Not since-“   
  
“-The Academy?”   
  
Simmons nodded. “Yeah.” Her voice was barely above a whisper.    
  
They shared the silence for a few moments. Leopold closed his eyes, embracing the company of Simmons. He knew soon she would be taken from the cell, on some mission, so he asked while he could. He could hardly believed he was asking, but he had let himself be captured. He figured he may as well.   
  
“What was your Fitz like?” Leopold opened his eyes and watched Simmons’ face morph into an expression that could only be described as bittersweet. Her eyes brightened with a slight bit of hope that Leopold knew was something he would shut away, before.   
  
Now? He wasn’t so sure. He wasn’t sure of much since meeting Simmons, mere days ago.   
  
“He’s amazing, honestly. He is incredibly intelligent and brave and only wants what’s best for people. He never let the negative moments in his life define who he was. He suffered from brain damage saving me, he crossed the universe for me. Twice.”   
  
He remembered what Dr. Radcliffe had said.   
  
“He has been betrayed over and over and gone through so much and yet he is still the loving, loyal person I fell in love with. I told him once that after all that he had been through, no one would blame him if he had put up his own firewall...”   
  
“I did. Your Fitz didn’t.”   
  
“My Fitz is open and caring and didn’t build this place for it to be a world controlled by Nazi’s. He built Aida to protect, not to harm. All I can think about is how he’s going to be when he get out of this... I don’t even know a word to describe it...”   
  
Leopold didn’t need a word. He knew her Fitz would be feeling every emotion he had locked away. Every last bit of sadness, anger and guilt he had refused to let himself feel.    
  
He shook the thought of _how did I know Aida is Ophelia?_ and took a deep breath. Leopold admitted something he hadn’t realised until he said it; “He sounds like the man I want to be.”   
  
Simmons’ eyes widened. She spoke no words, but her expression was enough to make him ask his next question; “What changed him?”   
  
She became thoughtful for a moment before shrugging. “It could be a number of things... His mum, Shield, the team-“   
  
“The team?”   
  
She nodded. “Yeah, me, you, Daisy, Mack, Coulson and May.”   
  
“So you’re saying there’s a team made up of a resurrected Shield agent, an inhuman I tortured, a dad, a school teacher, the sole reason for Cambridge and on top of that, a good, or real I suppose, version of me?”   
  
Simmons chuckled. “Well when you put it like that... And they aren’t the only ones, we’ve had so many allies over the years. But these people aren’t what they seem. This is a world where one regret was fixed for each of you. In the real world, you deal with that regret.”   
  
“Was mine my dad?” Leopold’s voice broke on the last word. His dad had raised him to be a great man, had cared for him and brought him up right. And he was the reason he was... this?   
  
Simmons nodded. “It seems that way... I know it’s hard, and it’s not what you want to hear, but it’s the truth.”   
  
He looked at his hands to avoid her eyes. He gave up on the straight posture and tried to keep the tears from falling. “What was everyone else’s?”   
  
“Mack was his daughter never dying, Coulson was never joining Shield and May’s was saving the girl in Bahrain.”   
  
“Something always felt off about Cambridge... That’s cause it never happened.” It was a statement. Leopold believed Jemma wholeheartedly.   
  
Jemma answered. “I assume your subconscious sort of knows some of this stuff in a way but because of the programming you can’t properly remember.”   
  
“God, I would always leave this brain stuff up to you, seeing it’s closer to biochemistry, but this programming makes it sound like something I’d deal with.”   
  
“I never told you that... How did you know that?”   
  
Leopold shrugged, still not looking up. “Same way I felt like I was home when you and Daisy bought me here, or how I wasn’t surprised when Skye said she was an inhuman and her name was really Daisy Johnson, or how I know your telling the truth or how I knew you were talking about Ophelia when you said Aida.”   
  
He took a breath before continuing. “I don’t remember anything about your world, not like Coulson might, but I know enough to know it’s real and we need to get there.”   
  
Jemma smiled “That’s good. Let’s get you out of here then.”   
  
Leopold’s eyes widened as he looked up at Jemma. “Why are so prepared to trust me?”   
  
“Because you know enough for me to know my Fitz is there.”   



End file.
